Options Radar: Micron Technology, Inc., Yelp Inc, and Plug Power Inc

Reviewing notable options activity on Micron Technology, Inc., Yelp Inc, and Plug Power Inc

Karee Venema

Nov 3, 2014 at 1:03 PM

Three stocks seeing notable options activity today are semiconductor concern Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU), online review issue Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP), and fuel cell specialist Plug Power Inc (NASDAQ:PLUG). Here's a look at how today's options traders have been placing their bets on MU, YELP, and PLUG.

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) is up 1.7% this afternoon -- par for the course for a stock that's rallied nearly 55% year-to-date to its current perch at $33.64. In the options pits, call volume is seeing a rare uptick, due in large part to what appears to be some rolling activity in the January 2015 series of options. Specifically, a block of 12,741 January 2015 30-strike calls was sold to close, while a larger lot of 19,114 January 2015 34-strike calls was simultaneously bought to open. Simply stated, it seems that one option trader upwardly revised her bullish bet, betting on MU to rally past the $34 mark by the close on Friday, Jan. 16 -- when the options expire. Delta on the higher-strike call is docked at 0.52, suggesting a 1-in-2 chance the option will be in the money at expiration.

Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP) is up 3.5% to trade at $62.10, after Barclays raised its profit and sales estimates for the company's 2015 and 2016 fiscal years, citing YELP's potential for growth in foreign markets. Additionally, the brokerage firm reiterated its "overweight" rating, as well as its $85 price target. Option traders are expecting today's momentum to continue through week's end by buying to open the equity's weekly 11/7 63.50-strike calls. Longer-term speculators, meanwhile, are targeting the security's December 70 call, as they gamble on the stock to fill its late-October earnings-induced bearish gap by the close on Friday, Dec. 19 -- when back-month options expire.

Option bulls continue to target Plug Power Inc (NASDAQ:PLUG), with calls crossing the tape at a rate seven times the intraday average. Short-term contracts are in high demand, as evidenced by PLUG's 30-day at-the-money implied volatility, which is up 5.1% to 84.3%. The stock's weekly 11/7 5.50-strike call has seen the most action, with 5,350 contracts on the tape at last check. Drilling down, it appears these weekly options are being bought to open for a volume-weighted average price (VWAP) of $0.10. Elsewhere, those gambling on a post-earnings pop for PLUG -- which is slated to unveil its third-quarter results next Wednesday, Nov. 12 -- are buying to open December 5 calls for a VWAP of $0.50. On the charts, PLUG has more than tripled in value in 2014 -- and today, has tacked on 12.7% to linger near $5.31 amid a sector-wide rally.

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